Tokyo is endlessly fascinating and surprisingly affordable: Five cool things to do there

November 1, 2025
Travel News & Insights

Few cities in the world are more exciting to visit than Tokyo. Japan’s capital city is vast, vibrant, energetic and is a shopper’s paradise in every sense of the word.

It’s a sensory overload of skyscrapers, bright lights and traffic, with myriad train lines weaving their way over the metropolis like an expertly crafted spider web.

It’s a city where technological innovation is juxtaposed with age-old traditions. It’s also strangely calming in how everything is so clean and controlled; its services running like clockwork; its people are polite and respectful.

It’s not necessarily a warm and bubbly place like South Africa, but it certainly commands respect and admiration, and the Japanese culture is deeply fascinating.

“Oh, but it must be so expensive!” I hear you say.

You might be surprised.

Mid-range hotels start at under R1,800 per night, and more affordable options are available too if you don’t mind roughing it a bit.

Granted, it can be a very costly city if you follow the well-heeled crowds.

However, if you trawl the streets and compare your options, you’ll find relative bargains all over. There are plenty of reasonably priced restaurants and takeaway joints. Vending machines on just about every corner sell cans of soda for just 100 yen (R11.20), and many even dispense warm canned coffee. Yes, you heard right, how amazing is that?

There are Seven-Eleven shops almost everywhere, and they’re open 24 hours a day, selling a glut of localised deli treats and even beer or wine. And for the most part, they are significantly cheaper than South Africa’s sickeningly greedy garage shops and supermarkets, even after taking the exchange rate into account.

But what can you do in Tokyo to maximise the experience? The world really is your oyster, and you could probably spend a few weeks here before getting bored.

Below are a few highlights from a recent trip, in which Suzuki Auto South Africa invited IOL and other selected media to discover its home country and the Japan Mobility Show. Keep in mind that tourist activities in this city vary in price and not all of them are classified as affordable.

Senso-Ji Temple, then shop ‘til you drop

Located in a vibrant part of the city called Asakusa, Senso-Ji is the oldest temple in Tokyo. Featuring stunning traditional architecture, this Buddhist place of worship draws over 30 million visitors each year.

After taking in the calm of the temple, those with a shopaholic inclination can get lost for hours in the surrounding streets, which are packed with shops selling well-priced clothes, souvenirs and almost anything you can think of.

A rickshaw ride through Asakusa

After a hard day’s shopping, you can enjoy a 30-minute rickshaw ride through the Asakusa area, learning more about its history and what makes it tick.

You might associate rickshaw rides with Durban, but this form of human-fuelled transportation actually originated in Tokyo in the 1860s, where it became a widespread form of public transportation before the invention of cars and trains.

Rickshaw is the English translation of the Japanese word jinrikisha, which literally means “human-power-vehicle” and the people at the ‘wheel’ of Tokyo’s modern rickshaws are not only friendly, but they possess a wealth of knowledge about their home cities.

Learn about the art of Sumo

Originating over 1,500 years ago as a sacred Shinto ritual to pray for a bountiful harvest, today sumo wrestling is Japan’s national sport.

Modern sumo still incorporates traditional rituals, such as the purification ceremony that involves throwing salt before a match.

You can experience the wonder of sumo from the comfort of a venue such as Yokozuna Tonkatsu, which has a built-in sumo ring where real sumo wrestlers put on an entertaining show while you eat traditional sumo foods such as Chanko-Nabe hot pot dishes. But be warned… You may just need all of that nutrition if you get called onto stage to take on these mighty giants!

Indulge in the taste of Teppanyaki

Japan has many culinary delights, and we’d fill a book trying to tell you about them all, but one that’s well worth trying out is teppanyaki dining.

As literally translated, it means cooking on a large, flat iron griddle, which takes place right in front of diners. Here, dishes like steak, seafood and vegetables are seared at high heat and cooked to absolute perfection.

You’ll find teppanyaki restaurants throughout the city, some even boasting a magnificent high-rise view. If you really want to max out the experience, be sure to try out a Waygu steak at a teppanyaki restaurant. Don’t be fooled, this will be really expensive, but when that meat melts in your mouth, it will seem worth every penny.

A trip to Fuki-Hakone-Izu National Park

When you feel like taking a break from the hustle and bustle of the city and breathing in some country air, a trip to Fuki-Hakone-Izu National Park is a sanctuary that will blow your mind.

Located around 100km south of the city, you can get most of the way there on a 30-minute bullet train from Tokyo’s central station, which is something you simply have to experience as it gushes through the city at speeds of up to 300km/h. In fact, you can travel across most of Japan on this speedy track.

The national park and its surrounds are a visual feast of mountains, forests and lakes – and you’d be mistaken for thinking you were in a place like Canada. We visited the Hakone area, where you can take cable car rides up various mountains, or a relaxed cruise on the gorgeous Lake Ashi. On a clear day, you can also take in the splendour of the famous Mount Fiji, which is located at the edge of the park.

You might not find complete serenity, however. As this is a popular tourist destination, Hakone is usually quite crowded, even during weekdays.

But as with the Tokyo experience, crowds are part of the deal, and the buzz that you get from both of these stunning locations is well worth it.

Of course, there are many other items worth adding to your Tokyo bucket list, including a trip up the city’s 634-metre Skytree, a visit to the Meiji Shrine, and the Imperial Palace East Garden, to name just a few. And if you are a petrolhead you will surely want to visit one of the legendary nighttime car meets at the Daikoku Parking Area in Yokohama.,